Rachel Maddow is a political commentator and television host who is unabashedly vocal about her liberal political views. As the host of the hugely popular nightly television show, ‘The Rachel Maddow show’, she is a much sought after political commentator in the world of television as well as radio. Even as a child she was very curious, confident and active. The budding journalist began reading newspapers cover-to-cover as a seven year old and even analyzed what she read by asking questions. An athletic girl, she actively participated in sports like volleyball, basketball and swimming till a shoulder injury forced her to quit strenuous physical activity. She was socially aware from her teenage years and used to volunteer at an AIDS clinic and later became an activist for an AIDS organization. She was an academically brilliant student and won a scholarship to attend Oxford University. She won a contest held by the radio station WRNX and landed a job with them. After hosting and co-hosting several shows, her own show, ‘The Rachel Maddow Show’ was aired. The popularity of this show led to a television show of the same name that was broadcast on MSNBC. A bold and courageous woman, she openly accepted her sexuality and is the first openly gay anchor to host a major prime time news program in the U.S.

She is the daughter of Robert Maddow, a former U.S. Air Force captain, and Elaine, a school program administrator. She has one brother. She is of mixed ancestry and was brought up in a very conservative catholic community.

She went to Castro Valley High School, California where she was very active in sports like volleyball, basketball and swimming. She also volunteered at a local AIDS clinic during her free time.

She enrolled at Stanford University from where she earned a degree in public policy in 1994. She earned a Rhodes Scholarship and joined the Lincoln College, Oxford in 1995. She received her Doctor of Philosophy in politics from Oxford University in 2001.

She found her first job by winning a contest held by radio station WRNX to find a co-host for the show ‘The Dave in the Morning Show’. Then she was chosen to host ‘Big Breakfast’ on WRSI for two years.

She hosted ‘Unfiltered’, a morning show on Air America Radio along with Lizz Winstead and Chuck D. The show was cancelled in 2005.

Her radio program ‘The Rachel Maddow Show’ premiered in April 2005—just a couple of weeks after ‘Unfiltered’ was cancelled. The show became very popular and by March 2008 it had gained an hour and had David Bender handling the call-in section.

She became a regular panelist on the MSNBC show ‘The Situation with Tucker Carlson’ in 2005 and also appeared frequently on CNN’s ‘Paula Zahn Now’.

She signed a contract with MSNBC as a political analyst in 2008 and also served as a regular panelist on the show ‘Race for the White House’ with David Gregory. She also appeared frequently on ‘Countdown with Keith Olbermann.

She once was the substitute host for ‘Countdown with Keith Olbermann’ in April 2008. Her work was so appreciated that she was made to host the program again next month and also several other episodes over the year while Olbermann was on vacation.

Olbermann had become a close friend of Maddow’s and he urged her to host her own show. ‘The Rachel Maddow Show’ premiered in August 2008 in MSNBC’s 9 p.m. slot. The show was a big hit from the very beginning and became the highest rated show on the channel.

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The show received positive reviews and the viewership for the program doubled after just a month of its premiering. With this show, Maddow became the first openly gay or lesbian to host a prime-time news program in the U.S.

She read and commented on the news items in the radio show ‘The Rachel Maddow Show’ which was aired by the now defunct Air America Radio. The show also included interviews with politicians, newsmakers and other influential personalities.

Her television program ‘The Rachel Maddow Show’, based on her highly popular radio program of the same name is a daily news and opinion television program broadcast on MSNBC. The show has several segments co-hosted by different commentators.